FFECT OF JIGSAW INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON UPPER BASIC II STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION IN CIVIC EDUCATION IN ABIA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of Jigsaw learning strategy on Upper Basic 11 Students’ academic achievement and retention in Civic education. Three research questions were posed and one hypothesis was formulated to guide the study which was carried out in three schools in Umuahia Educational Zone of Abia state. The population of 33,787 comprising 17,127 male and 16,660 female students in Upper Basic II were involved. One hundred and twenty-seven (127) students were used for the study for the sample. The study is a quasi-experimental study which employed pretest posttest control group design and a 2x1 factorial design. Instruments used for data collection was Civic Education Achievement Test (CEAT), CEAT was validated by three experts and the reliability coefficient using Kuder Richardson formuler was found to be 0.87 , Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test statistics were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significance level. The result revealed that there is significant difference in academic achievement of students taught Civic Education using Jigsaw  learning strategy than those taught using Lecture teaching method. The result equally revealed that there is an improvement in the mean achievement and retention scores of students taught Civic Education after treatment with Jigsaw learning strategy. The result also revealed that gender is not a significant factor in the academic achievement and retention of students using Jigsaw learning Strategy. The result proved that Jigsaw learning strategy enhanced upper Basic 11 students’ academic achievement and retention in Civic Education than Lecture teaching method.  It was recommended among others that efforts should be made by curriculum experts to incorporate the Jigsaw learning strategy into the teaching of Civic Education.